Wow! More great responses for this last chapter! Seriously, you guys make my day and make me excited to write this story.

Special shoutout to LordXaero for some really great suggestions that got me thinking. I do read all of your reviews and they make me smile. Please enjoy this chapter - it's for you! (Yes you, you individual reading this story. 3)

CHAPTER SEVEN

Harry had had a whirlwind of a day, and it wasn't even noon yet. He had woken up to the usual pounding on his cupboard, but had been told to meet his Uncle in the kitchen. Confused but obedient, he raked his hands through his hair, put on one of Dudley's over-sized shirts and left his cupboard.

"You know we have been telling people you're going to a special school?" Vernon demanded. Harry nodded quickly. He hadn't heard anything about a new school, but his Aunt had told him to act excited about it. Ms. Figg had been the only one kind enough to ask, and he had acted enthusiastic as asked, and she had given him a pat on the head and offered him a stale biscuit. He didn't even have to act that much, because it was a boarding school and he would be away from the Dursley's.

"Well, you're not going." Before Harry could even be disappointed, Vernon continued "That weird Dr. Cullen chap wants to adopt you." Harry was stunned. It couldn't be true. Harry's dreams never came true. Was he going crazy? Had he heard his Uncle right? Vernon seemed to not notice Harry's inner thoughts or care, because he continued "You'll have to visit every once in awhile to keep people thinking you're away at school. But you listen here boy - " Uncle Vernon leaned in menacingly. "If you get sent back because they figure out you're too freakish for them, there will be consequences. Understand?"

Harry nodded so quickly he thought his head would pop off. "Yes, Uncle Vernon!"

"Good. We leave in five minutes." Recognizing that for the dismissal it was, Harry ran to his closet. He didn't have anything to carry his clothes in, and so he ended up just shoving his lost chess pieces in his pockets. He hesitated about bringing the stick with him, but decided against him. He didn't want Mr. Cullen to think he was weird, or he would send him back here and Uncle Vernon would be really mad. His glasses were already on his face and the only thing left was the stick and his blankets. Shrugging, Harry left and closed the door behind him.

"Ready?" Vernon barked.

"Yes, sir." Harry said. He hadn't gotten breakfast today, but that was alright. He got to see Mr. Cullen again!

Then he had met with Mr. Cullen. He was the kindest and most considerate person he had ever met. Harry hoped that one day, he could be as cool as Mr. Cullen was.

And he was adopting him! And he was magic! And Mr. - Carlisle was a vampire! Part of him wanted to deny everything he had heard, and he was just having a very odd dream. But somewhere in his heart, he knew what Mr. Cul - Carlisle had said was true. He thought he might explode with happiness, and he swore to himself he would do everything he could not to mess this up.

"We're almost there Harry. Are you doing okay?"

"Yes Mr. - Carlisle." Harry corrected himself quickly. And Carlisle was so thoughtful! Feeding Harry, making sure he was okay. Is this what having parents would have been like? Harry thought. The thought of his parents, who he now knew were heroes, occupied his thoughts until they finished following the long winding driveway to the house.

"We're here!" Carlisle's announcement startled him out of his sad and lonely thoughts, and as he got out of the car and looked at the house, his mouth fell open.

He knew doctors made money, but Mr. Cull - Carlisle must be rich. If the Dursley's knew they would never let me stay here. Harry thought. The house was ginormous (He had just learned that word before break let out. He could spell it, and Dudley couldn't. Ha). It was pretty too, with a little garden out front and large windows that let in a lot of natural light. He could see a piano, where a young man seemed to be teaching a young woman how to play.

Another young woman, closer to Carlisle's age, met them on the porch.

"You must be Harry. I've heard so much about you. My name is Esme, I'm Carlisle's wife." I thought Carlisle was pretty. Harry thought.

This woman - Esme - had soft, caramel colored hair that framed a heart shaped face. Her features were soft and her golden eyes were warm and inviting. She was definitely the prettiest woman Harry had ever seen.

"Um, yes m'am." Harry stuttered.

"You can just call me Esme, alright?" Esme asked, kneeling down to meet his eyes.

"Okay… Esme." Harry agreed. A second later, he was pulled into a hug. Her arms were strong and sure around him. His face was pressed against her shoulder and he could smell a nice, fruity scent that he couldn't exactly place. It felt...warm. It felt nice. Shakily, Harry reached up, scared to be scolded for doing the wrong thing, and hesitantly put his arms around her. Esme squeezed tighter for a moment and then pulled away. Harry felt like the moment lasted far too long and ended way too quickly, and though he didn't know it now he would remember his first hug from Esme for the rest of his life.

"Well, would you like anything to eat?" Harry shot a panicked look at Carlisle, who gave him a reassuring smile.

"He just had brunch. They hadn't fed him yet." Carlisle explained.

"I'm sorry - " Harry began, feeling as though he had done something wrong. He was immediately brushed off. "No worries Harry! We'll just make sure you get a nice healthy snack before dinner."

"Um, thank you, but really it's okay. I'm used to not eating much so you don't need to go out of your way to make me extra food. M-Carlisle told me you don't eat." Harry knew Dudley received a large quantity of snacks throughout the day. But Harry never received snacks, and he wanted to quickly establish that he wouldn't be any more of a burden than he had to be.

Harry thought he heard something crunch from near the piano, but was distracted by Esme.

"Harry, we only have one person to feed, and it's you. Let us do a good job of it, okay?" Esme asked gently. "I always wanted to cook for a large family, but no one here eats besides the Pack and that's more like feeding a literal pack of wolves, so really you'll be doing me a favor if you let me make food for you."

I guess that makes sense...Harry thought. "Thank you." He decided to say nervously, and was rewarded with a bright smile.

"Now that that's out of the way - " A bright, musical voice echoed from the stairs and a young woman who reminded Harry of a sprite practically bounced down the stairs. "My name is Alice. I'm going to be your favorite Aunt and we're going to spend a lot of time together and first we're going to go shopping so let's go!" Alice was in front of Harry for about a second and then she started heading towards the door.

"Shouldn't he at least see his room first?" A slightly lower and smoother voice followed, and yet another gorgeous woman followed her. She had long, flowing blonde hair and the same golden eyes as everyone else.

Alice made a whining noise before suddenly she was in front of Harry again.

"Alice, calm down you're freaking him out." A deeper baritone voice came from the piano. He also had golden eyes but his hairs was a strange bronze color. Beside him was a girl who had, curiously, a pair of brown eyes. She must be Renesmee, which made the man beside her Edward, if he remembered what Carlisle told him about his family correctly.

He didn't notice the appraising look Edward gave him as Alice turned around, arms slightly extended to her sides.

"Don't worry, he'll love this." Alice assured him. "Ever have a piggyback ride, Harry?" The blonde woman groaned and Renesmee laughed.

"Go on," Carlisle encouraged. Feeling extremely awkward and unbalanced, Harry climbed onto her back as he had seen other kids do with their parents. No sooner had his foot slotted between her arms that he was suddenly whooshing up the stairs. Harry let out a startled laugh. Even though it only lasted a moment, Harry relished the feeling of his hair being blown back, wind pressing against his face and drawing a few tears from his eyes.

Harry learned that he liked going fast. He liked going fast very much.

He was disappointed when they stopped in front of a closed door, and reluctantly got off Alice's back. She immediately reached out her hand, and Harry hesitantly took it. He had been shown more affection today than he had been shown in his whole life, and he didn't know how to feel about it. One part of him absolutely loved it, a childish part of him that desperately craved attention and love. Another part of him recoiled, worried that it would be snatched from him like every other good thing in his life.

"This is your room Harry." Alice told him. "And my room is right next to yours so if you ever need anything just walk right over and knock. I don't sleep so you won't be disturbing me, okay?"

"And if she freaks you out too much my room is across the hall so you can ask me anything to. I'm Rosalie, by the way." Rosalie added. She had followed them upstairs.

"I don't freak anyone out!" Alice argued.

"She doesn't freak me out." Harry said quietly. They didn't seem to be using the word freak like the Dursley's did, but it made him uncomfortable. Alice was...well, a bit weird, and too enthusiastic, but she was happy and nice and he didn't want Rosalie to be mean to her.

They were both silent for a second, and Harry began to panic, thinking he had said something wrong when Alice spoke up. "Ha, he showed you!" Rosalie rolled her eyes, then turned to Harry. Just like Esme and Carlisle, she got down to Harry's level when she spoke to him.

"Harry, you've just been adopted into a family of vampires and werewolves and you're a wizard. We're all sort of freaky. But you want to know a secret?" Rosalie leaned in to whisper in his ear. "It's people like Dursley's who are normal. So we freaks are pretty cool, right?" Harry blinked. He had never thought of it that way. Everyone seemed to like the Dursley's and listen o what they had to say...but he didn't want to be like them.

"I guess so." He said uncertainly. He knew being a freak was bad, but he never knew how not to be a freak. He always thought that meant he was bad, but the Cullens were saying it like it was a good thing. It was confusing.

Rosalie ruffled his hair affectionately, surprising him. "You'll figure it out. Now let's see your room." Alice eagerly opened the door and ushered Harry inside.

The room was the size of Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon's bedroom. There was a large window on the right side, and a twin bed pushed in the left corner. There was a nightstand next to the bed, a large shelf, an even large dresser and what looked like a built in bookshelf on the other wall.

"Wow. This...this is mine?" Harry asked in amazement.

"It's all yours." Harry jumped. He had been focusing so much on the room he didn't notice there was someone inside. She had long brown wavy hair and golden eyes and was just a beautiful as all the other women he had met.

"I'm Bella, by the way. Edward's husband. This is just the basic furniture, and we can get more when we go shopping."

"There's...there's more?" Harry felt slightly light-headed. "But...really, this is okay. You don't have to - " A cold hand wrapped around his mouth.

"Thank you Aunt Alice I want a lot of things and also you can choose my wardrobe for all time."

"Alice!" Bella said exasperation. Harry couldn't help himself and giggled. They were so weird. But they were so nice and wanted to buy him things and he wanted to enjoy every bit of this while it lasted.

"Thank you Aunt Alice." He repeated, and was rewarded once again with a brilliant smile. He had never made the Dursley's smiled, and he found he quite enjoyed that too.

Alice turned for a piggyback ride, and this time Harry hopped on happily. Maybe this was all too good to be true, but as long as he wasn't a burden and kept them happy, he was pretty sure he could make this last.

-ACE-

"Harry, this is going to be very important. As a wizard, there's a shopping district just for wizards. But we can't see it." Carlisle explained. They were walking down the streets of London, heading towards a place called The Leaky Cauldron. Only Carlisle and Esme were with him. Harry told them he had never really had a choice of clothes before, and after a brief argument and a very pitying look from Bella, Alice had been given charge of clothing. After a bunch of rapid fire questions about what he liked, a desperate backtrack when he said he didn't know and Alice's face fell, he told her his favorite color (green) and he was used to baggy clothes.

"We may decide to just get you regular things, but we thought we would explore a bit. It is your birthright, after all." Esme added. "We should be close now." Carlisle glanced down at him. "And remember, there are charms that prevent us from seeing this place. They may try to drive us off by making us think we forgot to do something or there is something dangerous over there. It's your job to convince us to keep going."

"Even if you want to leave?" Harry asked hesitantly.

"Even if we want to leave."

"I won't get in trouble?" Harry pressed,

"Harry, I give you my word you will not get in trouble if you convince us to keep going. This is a very important job and we trust you to guide us, okay?" Carlisle said seriously.

"Okay." Harry agreed. They turned on to the street that the Leaky Cauldron was on. Harry spotted it immediately, with a sign hanging out with a black cauldron on it.

"I see it!" Harry declared.

"Amazing." Esme breathed. "I didn't really believe it, but I don't see anything. Do you?" She asked her husband, who shook his head, also in wonder. Harry led the way, but as they got closer, Carlisle suddenly asked. "Are you sure it's here Harry?"

"Yes Mr. Cullen - sorry, Carlisle. It's right here." Harry said.

"Shouldn't we just go in a mall closer to home? It would be safer, right?" Esme suddenly asked worriedly.

"But...but you said we'd go here." Harry had been very excited to see the wizard shopping area.

"Harry, are you even sure it's here?" Carlisle asked. His voice seemed condescending, and Harry shriveled up a little inside.

"It's here, I promise." He insisted. Carlisle shook his head with a sigh. "Let's just leave." He started to turn. Harry felt even worse. Carlisle had said he would trust him! He had given him one job and Harry was failing and Carlisle thought he was a liar just like everyone else and he was going back to the Dursley's -

"You gave me your word!" Harry blurted, tears spilling from his eyes. "You said...you said you'd believe me and I wouldn't get in trouble and - "He hiccuped, wiping his face furiously as his chest shook with restrained sobs. Something in Carlisle's face shifted and suddenly he was holding Harry's hand tightly. He grabbed his wife's hand despite her protests that she was absolutely sure she needed to leave to talk to Alice about something, and stared Harry in the eye.

"Lead the way." Harry was so relieved he practically ran at The Leaky Cauldron. Carlisle followed, dragging Esme behind him. A few times Harry felt Carlisle's hand slacken, but when he looked back Carlisle gave him a reassuring nod, his face tight with concentration. They made it to the door quickly, and Harry wasted no time in opening it and letting Carlisle and Esme inside.

"Muggles?" A voice asked from behind the bar. The bar was almost empty, save a couple in the corner playing cards that seemed to sizzle. The barkeep was an older gentleman, wiping glasses dry with a rag.

"Is it that obvious?" Carlisle's voice echoed ruefully from behind him. The barkeep chuckled, coming out from around the counter and extending his hand.

"The name's Tom. Now and then a muggleborn kid will show up after running from their parents who tried to drag them away. Once before a particularly determined one managed to drag his mom with him. That was an interesting day." He chuckled. Carlisle shook his hand.

"I'm Carlisle. This is my wife, Esme and our son Harry. We've had some run ins with the magical world before, but those charms you have are very strong." He turned towards Harry and laid a gentle hand on his hand.

"I'm sorry about that Harry. I had no idea the charms would repel us so strongly. You did very well. I'm proud of you."

"It's okay." Harry said automatically, because Carlisle had just called him his son. Even the Dursley's, his own actual relatives, had only called him boy or nephew, usually with the word 'disturbed' in front of it. Carlisle knew he wasn't a liar, and had told him he had done well. Then Carlisle said he was proud of him, and Harry's brain basically short-circuited. He didn't hear the rest of the conversation between Carlisle and Tom or Carlisle's skilled diversion from his name and he barely noticed as they were taken to a backroom. He only tuned back in when Tom said, "Welcome, Cullens, to Diagon Alley."

This chapter sort of wrote itself. The Cullens (particularly Alice) refused to let their scene be short. It was supposed to show Diagon Alley but it was already one thousand words longer than the other chapters and this is an early update, so I thought this would be a good place to end. Next up, Diagon Alley!

Please, please review. Reviews are love. Give Harry the love he deserves!

-Hatakefire